


Lessons in Kinesthetics and Secrecy

by prairiecrow



Series: Lessons in Humanity [10]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (2012)
Genre: A.I. to Human, Established Relationship, M/M, Threesome - M/M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-05
Updated: 2013-06-05
Packaged: 2017-12-14 02:20:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 845
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/831598
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/prairiecrow/pseuds/prairiecrow
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Amidst the glittering throng, Tony is fully capable of recognizing true beauty when he sees it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Lessons in Kinesthetics and Secrecy

As a rule, Tony is relentlessly on the go — and never more so than at a gala event, when there are so many people to connect with and so many spirited conversations to dive into. He delights in dazzling with his deft words and charming with his inexhaustible charisma: he is the brightest light in any room, and admiring or envious eyes (and frequently both at the same time) follow him wherever he goes. 

Yes, Tony Stark is used to being the centre of attention. In fact he accepts such adulation as nothing less than his due. But what few people realize, because so few people really _know_ him, is that there are moments in even the most wildly gay evening when his own attention is solidly on someone other than his own glorious self, a state of affairs which most people would roundly deny as utterly impossible. 

Two someones, in fact — the secret magnetic poles of his private universe. And he's dead certain that nobody notices him circling them in an instinctive dance, manoeuvring to positions where he can catch glimpses of them, each gaze like a sip of life-giving water. Tony is energized by crowds, but these connections — concealed, silent, entered from afar — sustain him more than any.  

There is JARVIS, of course, more commonly known these days as Jarvis Edward Stewart — first both in terms of duration in Tony's life and pride of place in his affections. The slender blond, clad in immaculate black reminiscent of a butler's suit of old, moves through the glittering throng with sober self-possession, entering few discussions but listening to all, alert for any hint of discord or dissatisfaction among his Master's guests. He is the unheralded maestro orchestrating the subliminal symphony of servants and served, of food and wine, of music and light and shadow: even the staff of this hotel defer to him, and not merely because Tony has clearly instructed that he is to be obeyed. Jarvis walks in an aura of devastating competence as the night of cloudless climes and starry skies walks in beauty, and although he lacks the brilliant flare of Tony's rampant extroversion he is equally a natural leader. When Jarvis speaks, people listen. When Jarvis issues an order in his quiet melodic English accent, people move to carry it out. His power is unobtrusive but its effects, if he wills it, could move the foundations of the world. Only a fool would mistake his understated demeanour for weakness, and Tony is definitely no fool. 

Finding him and following him with silent eyes full of heat, Tony reflects that he would easily be the most beautiful thing in the entire room, were it not for the presence of another man both taller and broader, a darker shade of blond with eyes of a deeper blue. Steve Rogers moves with his own grace, but where Jarvis is lithe as a willow Steve stands like a cedar of Lebanon: a pillar of certainty and raw strength, that power both obviously physical and far more subtle. He is, without a shadow of a doubt, the most morally resolute individual Tony has ever known. He might not be able to match either Tony or Jarvis in terms of intellectual prowess, but he is a tactical genius and Tony has recognized, time and time again, the wisdom of submitting to his commands in the battlefield. Steve is comfortable talking with the public, and tonight he moves among the rich and famous of New York City in his officer's uniform like authority made manifest, but Tony is privileged to know the deeper truth of his being: that his soul is as quiet and restful as a bright pool beneath shady boughs, and that in his heart he prefers the solitude of art or contemplation, or simply of conversation with a small circle of intimates. 

More specifically, he prefers Tony and Jarvis, and later tonight the three of them will meet in another quiet place with smiles and fond caresses and kisses pressed to ardent skin. Their different modes of being — forceful and yielding, abrasive and smooth, overstated and understated — will meld in a harmony so glorious in its perfection that these poor chattering fools, if they could catch even a glimpse of it, would cover their faces and turn away, shamed and shattered by their own unworthiness to behold such radiant intimacy.  

This is why Tony refuses to reveal it to the rest of humanity: to protect it, to treasure it up, to hold it safe in a universe full of ignorance and violence. He would fight any war to defend it, and he would offer up his own life without hesitation if that were the price of his loves' freedom. 

Weaving through the madding crowd, turning himself like a brightly polished mirror to light up each face he encounters, Tony watches his lovers in silence and smiles a smile that nobody else can read. 

Life is sweet, because amidst all the riches of the world he can claim these masterpieces as his own. 

THE END

 


End file.
